The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday allowed social media giant Twitter to place the various blocking orders issued by the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY).
The single-judge bench of Justice Krishna S. Dixit also directed Twitter to share the same with the advocate for the Union government.
Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Twitter, highlighted that no reasons were given in relation to the blocking orders issued. “If this is the way its going to happen, my entire business will come to an end,” he submitted. MeitY has failed to record reasons for ordering the closure of accounts, the court replied.
The Centre’s advocate requested the Court that the proceedings of the case be held in-camera. This will mean a private hearing in which parties not part of the proceedings will not be allowed. The court said the request will be considered.
On the Senior Counsel’s request, the Court agreed to hear the case further on August 25, 2022. Twitter Inc has been directed to share a copy of all documents in a sealed cover with the ID, the Court ordered.
In its petition filed before the High Court, Twitter has contended that account-level blocking is a disproportionate measure and violates the rights of users under the Constitution.
Of a total 1,474 accounts and 175 tweets, Twitter has challenged the blocking of only 39 URLs. Twitter argued that the direction to block entire accounts falls afoul of Section 69A of the IT Act.
Twitter Inc approached the High Court against 10 different blocking orders issued by the MeitY. These orders for blocking accounts, tweets, URLs and hashtags are dated between February 2, 2021 and February 28, 2022.